The city of Durango announced this week it has identified a new site for the long-stalled installation of “Common Threads,” a community art project consisting of steel panels with patterns and images symbolic of the region.
The new proposed location is at Durango-La Plata County Airport.
The city hopes to strike a deal with contractors working on a terminal expansion at the airport to install the panels, said Tommy Crosby, economic opportunity manager for Durango.
The sculpture, a product of hundreds of Durango residents’ and artists’ collaboration, was completed in 2019. But it has sat for years in storage. It was planned to be installed in the median at the intersection of U.S. highways 550 and 160 just south of the DoubleTree Hotel in Durango.
But that proposed location, front and center at a busy intersection, proved difficult for several reasons.
Scott Smith, former chairman of the now defunct Community Economy Commission, said last year the installation’s abundance of negative space and sharp steel panels that glint in the light could distract drivers at the intersection, or the installation could lure pedestrians across the highways onto the median to get a closer look.
It also proved exceptionally difficult to find a contractor willing to take on the sculpture installation, and construction costs had risen notably since the sculpture’s completion pre-pandemic, Crosby said last summer.
In February, the city announced it was in negotiations with a contractor to have the sculpture installed and would secure the deal “soon.” But that didn’t pan out either.
He said the city would need to coordinate with the Colorado Department of Transportation and some work would have needed to be done at night, an issue that initially left some city staff and officials skeptical of the Highway 550/160 site.
Crosby said on Tuesday the city’s latest request for proposals for the project were again unsuccessful. At that point, staff began to think about alternative locations.
“Through a partnership with our team at the airport and the original artist, we were able to identify the location that you see on the screen today,” he said.
The sculpture is planned to be installed near the exit for airport parking and the passenger loading zone at DRO, he said. It should be a much simpler job than the proposed installation at the Highway 550/160 intersection.
“Overall, the project is going to have a much smoother runway for takeoff,” he said.
“Common Threads” could be installed at DRO before the end of the year or in early 2025. He said the airport is a convenient location for the sculpture because the airport is just beginning Phase 1B of its terminal expansion project and contractors and subcontractors are already on site. A groundbreaking for Phase 1B was held Wednesday.
“We feel like there is good momentum with the new phase of construction the airport is entering that we’ll be able to take advantage of,” he said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
